It's just a PR move. The distraction/switch the talk. "Look, we made LW sportive priority". Then, we don't look at losses in marine waters or other freshwaters.

LW sockeye have always been, since the sports figured out how to catch them, a rec priority. The NI nets came in only when the share was too large for the recs to get it all. This was true in the early 80s because the methods used then were nowhere near as effective as what was developed more recently. The fishery used to be weeks long and died when Interest did, not when the share was taken.